Confession
 

I have tried so hard but failed, I drank today and last Tuesday. Two days out of eight, loads better than everyday but not good enough.
Felt so much better sober but just needed that relaxation.

Kaily you have done better back on the horse drinking is not relaxing not really once the alcohol goes it takes a lot with it

You can do this Kaily

There are a lot of ways to relax without drinking, but we drinkers go for the quick fix. You'll have to learn to relax without alcohol, or go unrelaxed. We can't use stress relief as an excuse to drink, we just can't.

Hi Kaily

like Carl said there are way better ways to relax - they may need a little more effort than a bottle, but it's worth it.

Have you tried things like exercise, or meditation? do you have any hobbies? any non alcohol related things that you find fun to do?

do you have a plan to help you stay sober at all Kaily?

D

Hi Kaily, I like your avatar! Glad you posted this. It seems that I think you already know you want a different way to relax...since drinking only helps for an hour or few and makes us feel anything BUT relaxed afterwards!

Keep at it and finding what works in a much better way for you!

I agree with amazingjoy, the only relaxing drinking provided me was the few hours of being drunk, the other 30 hours were a mess.

Hi Kaily. I finally realized drinking didn't really relax me. It just added to my anxiety. As others have said, trying to calm ourselves with alcohol is just a short term solution. It's not worth the price we pay.

I'm glad you were honest & wanted to talk it over. You can do this, Kaily.

Kaily,

Honesty...congrats on fighting...to thine self be true.

If you look at yourself as an addict it might help you in your life battle.

When you drank those 2 days you recharged the poison in your brain.

As u get clean, about 5 days or so...the anxiety will ramp up again.

It lasts a while, for me a few months. Your health will be better, but your mind will be in a state of paranoia periodically each day.

That is how it was for me anyway.

Fight for your life. Sobriety is very cool. Being a drunk is like living in a prison.

you may have needed relaxation, but you made the choice to DRINK as a solution. meaning you found a handy and almost reasonable sounding EXCUSE.

no more excuses. next time, try a hot bath. :)

I hope you can come up with some healthy ways to relax, and next time, hopefully you can get through a time like this without drinking.

I find that getting a massage or float therapy or even taking a walk or a bath is much more relaxing than drinking and makes me feel a lot healthier afterward.

You could come over and join the april class Kaily. Be good company and support for the early days.

Thanks everyone.
I definitely know my triggers and actually find these little slips a learning curve. Yesterday I had been working and planned to walk my dogs but I was in a lot of pain in my legs from a trapped nerve in my back which meant I couldn't get out with the dogs or do anything much, hence I made a conscious decision to drink to ease the pain and boredom. Today I am pleased to say I slept badly, my stomach/liver are painful so hopefully a lesson learnt.

I think you can also learn from the six non-drinking days. What were you doing right? Build on those things :)

You are honest about it, and that is a positive thing.

Relaxing is quite a task. I wanted my psychiatrist to prescribe me Xanax, but with my drinking and drug history (Weed was always my favorite.), he said that doing Xanax would not be good for me, that I have to learn to see that life, when not viewing it through drunk or drugged eyes, does contain stress. He wants me to not only see the stress but be able to deal with it. And that is something I have not done in a very, very long time. :headbange

Do what I did and get hold of a copy of 'EuroTruck Simulator 2' and relax by driving around Europe. You mustn't drink and drive!

Keep trying! You haven't failed if you are still trying! :)

Drinking is not relaxing. At least it wasn't for me. It's like taking an an anxiety-pill. Sure while you're drunk, it relaxes you a bit, but afterward your anxiety is much higher.

Once you get at a point of being sober for a longer period of time, you can experience real relaxation.

You can do this Kaily!! :)

Drinking for me gives me around 15 mins, maybe half an hour of relaxation. Not worth the following day or so of acute, crawling anxiety and disgust in myself.